expired Posted by SJL09 • Jul 24, 2019
Jul 24, 2019 6:38 PM
Item 1 of 1
expired Posted by SJL09 • Jul 24, 2019
Jul 24, 2019 6:38 PM
Simply Shade 11' Pre-Lit Patio Umbrella w/ Aluminum Frame & Base (Red)
+ Free Store Pickup$198
$398
50% offLowe's
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Assembly of the umbrella was super simple (10-20 minutes). Filling the base with sand is a bitch though. Expect to spend 30 minutes filling up each piece of the base if you pack the sand down with water because you only have about a 3-in hole to fit the sand into the base. There are 4 separate plastic pieces to the base that you have to fill btw so expect to spend 2 hrs filling the base or recruit some helpers. I bought 9x50lb bags of play sand and the two umbrellas took them all. I used water to pack the sand down. Honestly, I could have fit almost another 50 lb bag of sand in the second umbrella's base (the first umbrella took almost 5 bags + some water weight). Moral of the story, buy at least 4x50lb bags of play sand per umbrella and if you really want to weigh it down and spend the extra 30 minutes filling then get a 5th bag. I tried using a funnel to fill them but the sand didn't funnel so well. The sand kept getting clogged in the funnel so I quickly abandoned that idea and just used a scoop I had and scooped the sand directly into the base. If you plan on leaving the base out in the winter then don't use too much water to pack the sand down or it'll freeze and potentially ruin the base. The umbrella is attached to the base by 2 bolts so it's super easy to take apart if you'll be bringing the umbrella in for the winter.
Other then the pain in the ass the base was to fill with sand, I like the fact that the base is in 4 separate interlocking piece. This makes moving the umbrella around much easier. My in-laws have a pair of much more expensive umbrellas where the base is just one piece. Admittedly it looks much better being one piece and is much easier to fill with sand based on how theirs is designed but it's nearly impossible to move because of the weight. With these umbrellas you can easily move the base one piece at a time and then move the umbrella to a different side of the deck/patio if you wanted (it's very useful if you move or want to sell them later on).
The solar panel powered LED lights are very useful as well on my patio which doesn't have much light otherwise. They cast a very respectable amount of light. If you plan on covering these when not in use, which I'd recommend because many reviews complained that the umbrella's color fading from the sun, then just be warned that the solar panel will also get covered and not recharge the battery. This means that if you are going to use the LED lights and you cover the umbrella when not in use then you'll have to remember to take the cover off before hand to allow plenty of time for the battery to recharge in the sun so you can use the LED lights at night. If you forget to uncover the umbrella before hand then there is a power cord that you can plug in so the battery will recharge off your home's electricity. There is also a power switch to turn the lights on and off so they do not have to be on all the time.
The ability to rotate the umbrella 360 degrees is very useful as well. It's so much easier to do then my in-laws more expensive umbrellas. Being able to easily rotate the umbrella is a good feature so you can position the umbrella based on the sun's orientation. Also, when initially opening the umbrella, the 360 rotation of the pole allows you to move the umbrella away from furniture so you won't hit it when opening the umbrella and then you can easily rotate the umbrella back over the furniture once the umbrella is open. Without that feature you would have needed to move the furniture to open the umbrella and then move the furniture back once the umbrella was open which is more effort then it takes to rotate this umbrella.
Overall I'm happy with them but only time will tell how well they'll hold up.
BTW: Box is approx. 8-ft L x 16-in W x 14.5-in H so plan accordingly for pick up.
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I got this for $37.50 "Le Papillon from Amazon" https://www.amazon.com/gp/product...UTF8&
My deck is about 4-5 feet above ground any other options I can use?
Shahhere
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